Stable cleaner



Dec. 1, 1942. E. A. LIVINGSTON STABLE CLEANER Filed Oct. 24, 1940 lYIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII l Patented Dec. 1, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT GFFICESTABLE CLEANER Eugene A. Livingston, Cass City, Mich. Applicationoctober 24, 1940, serial No. 362,526

2 Claims.

This invention relates to a stable cleaning device, and moreparticularly to a power actuated litter fork for operation in the stablegutters for quickly, easily, and eiciency cleaning said gutters.

One of the prime objects of the invention is to provide a hinged litterfork of substantial construction which can be readily and easilyhandled. and which can be automatically tripped to allow the tinedportion of the fork to swing downwardly and positively dump the load.

Another object is to design a litter fork of simple and practicalconstruction which is easy to manufacture and assemble, which readilyslides in the gutter, and which is automatically locked in set operativeposition when the tines are swung back to original position.

With the above and other objects in View, the present invention consistsin the combination and arrangement of parts, hereinafter more fullydescribed, illustrated in the accompanying drawing, and moreparticularly pointed out in the appended claims, it being understoodthat changes may be made in the form, size, proportions, and minordetails of construction, without departing from the spirit, orsacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a sectional, side elevational view of a building showingstables and gutters with my improved fork in position thereon;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged, side elevational view of the litter fork, thebroken lines showing the fork tines swung down for unloading; and,

Fig. 3 is a top plan view.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary edge elevational view showing the back and pushplates hingedly connected together and the bracket in position on theback plate.

Dairy buildings in general are designed with gutters located directly inthe rear of the stable proper and in which straw, refuse, etc.,collects. Ordinarily, the cleaning of the gutters is done manually witha fork, the contents being carried to a refuse pile or bed locatedoutside the building proper. This cleaning is a somewhat slow andtedious operation, and I have therefore designed a litter fork andattachment, power actuated and controlled, so that the manual labor iseliminated, and whereby the refuse is pushed to a spreader vehicle or toa pile located adjacent the stable proper, and from which it can behandled as desired.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing, the numeral 8 indicatesa building of conventional design such as used to house cattle, horses,and other animals. A trough or gutter 9 is provided in the floor of thebuilding as shown, and an upwardly inclined extension I0 is providedoutside the building and forms an extension of the stable gutter proper,the upper end being elevated suiciently so that the refuse can bedischarged into a spreader vehicle II for transportation to any desiredlocation. l

The litter fork F is formed as clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 3 of thedrawing, and comprises spaced apart push and back-plates I2 and I3respectively, hingedly connected together at the point I4, and acentrally disposed draw bar I5 which is secured to the back-plate I3 bymeans of rivets or the like (not shown), the free end extendingforwardly, and one end of a cable member I6 which is secured thereto, sothat the fork can be drawn along the gutter when in use.

Spaced apart, rearwardly extending, upwardly curved members I'I are alsosecured to the plate I3 and form a shoe, the outer ends of said membersbeing bolted to a transversely disposed bar I8 by means of bolts I9. Abar brace 20 is rigidly secured to the draw bar I5 and to the bar I8 toform a rigid structure.

Spaced apart tines 2| are provided on the pushplate I2, the free endsbeing pointed so that they readily lead into the refuse, these tinesbeing drawn in said gutter beneath the refuse to hold the fork inposition in the gutter.

A rearwardly extending bracket 22 is mounted on the back face of theplate I3, and an L-shaped latch lever 23 is pivotally mounted thereon bymeans of the bolt 24, the forward end of said latch lever being notchedas at 25 to engage the upper edge ofthe plate I2, the opposite end beingturned upwardly as shown at 26 for engagement by a suitable stop 21provided at the outer end of the trough extension, so that the plate I2,together with the tined section of the fork, is automaticallyreleased asthe fork is drawn to it discharging position.

A spring 28 is anchored to the latch 23 and to the back-plate I3respectively, for swinging the latch back to original position after ithas been tripped, and a curved rod 29 is anchored in the plate I2,thence projecting rearwardly and serving as a track or guide t0 insureagainst binding when the fork is opened and closed.

One end of an endless cable I6 is connected to the end of the draw bar I5, thence leading to the sheave 30, thence around a sheave (not shown)provided beyond the end of the trough III, thence being wound on thedrum D as usual, thence the cable leads back and over the sheaves 3| and32, and thence being anchored to the cross bar I8 provided on the fork,so that thefork can be hauled rearwardly as well as forward, and thisdrum is, of course, power driven; but this forms no part of the presentinvention which is broadly directed to the fork proper.

The motor (not shown) is remotely controlled from a switch held in thehand for starting, stopping, forward, or reverse as desired. Inpractice, the fork is placed in the gutter with about twenty linear feetof refuse ahead of it, then as the fork is drawn forward, it pushes therefuse up the inclined trough I0 and onto the spreader Il, and as thefork travels forwardly the latch 2li is tripped by the stop 21 afterwhich the operator reverses the direction of travel, the tined sectionthen swings back to horizontal position and is latched, and the fork isthen brought back to position to again push another section of refuse inthe same manner, the operation being repeated until the gutter isentirely cleaned.

From the foregoing description, it will be obvious that I have perfecteda very simple, practical, and economical litter fork for cleaning stablegutters and the like.

What I claim is:

1. A litter fork comprising a at back-plate provided with rearwardlyextending, upwardly curved bar members forming a shoe; a forwardlyextending draw bar secured to said plate, an imperforate push-platehingedly connected at its lower edge to said back-plate, spaced aparttines provided on and projecting forwardly from said push-plate, aspring tensioned latch mounted on said back-plate and engageable withthe pushplate, and a guide rod mounted on the push plate and slidable insaid back plate.

2. A litter fork comprising a back plate provided with rearwardlyextending, upwardly curved bar members forming a shoe; a forwardlyextending draw bar secured to said plate and connected to said shoe; animperforate push plate hingedly connected at its extreme lower end tosaid back plate; spaced apart tines connected t0 the lower edge of thepush plate, and extending forwardly therefrom; latching means mounted onsaid back plate and engageable with the push plate, and a guide rodmounted on the push plate and slidable in said back plate.

EUGENE A. LIVINGSTON.

